WGU MATH OPT2 TASK 1 | WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS | LATEST
UPDATE
Task 1
A. Identify two NCTM process standards in the attached “Executive Summary: Principles and
Standards for School Mathematics,” that you observed in the lesson from the “Teaching Math:
Staircase Problem” video. Support each standard with a specific, relevant example from the
lesson.
Connections is an NCTM Process Standard used in the video. At minute 2:05, a student
asks if the problem is “a two-step rule or a one-step rule”, and when the teacher asks for the
student to elaborate, she says, “certain ones we do, you have to have two different rules to
get the one answer? Is it just one straight rule or two different rules to get that”. This student
is using the connections standard by asking how the problem of the day will pull from
problems they have already done
Representation is an NCTM Process Standard that is used in the video. When the teacher
went over the instructions at the beginning of the video, answered questions the students
had, and handed out the materials, I noticed the students had physical representations of the
staircases. Each group had paper squares they could move around, test ideas, and strategize
how they were going to solve the problem.
B. Explain how the activity in the “Teaching Math: Staircase Problem” video is a high-level
cognitive demand task. Support your claims using a specific, relevant example from the lesson.
The staircase problem is a high-level cognitive demand task because the answer is not
immediately noticeable. In the video, when the teacher is going over the problem, he goes
over what is obvious. He says how high the staircases are and how many blocks are in each
staircase, but doesn’t tell them how to solve the problem. Instead, he has them write down
all the questions they have and gives them materials like paper, pencils, and paper blocks to
help the students come up with the strategies. He also lets them go through productive
struggle by letting the students figure out the patterns by the strategies they think of, guiding
them with what they think, and making it a point not to answer questions they have while
they are working. He is asking why it would be this, and making the students think if their
strategies are working by asking them to elaborate on why they think the strategies work (this
is seen at time stamp 3:30).
C. Explain how the activity in the “Teaching Math: Staircase Problem” video provides multiple
entry and exit points. Support your claims using a specific, relevant example from the lesson.
Entry and exit points are used in the staircase problem effectively. One of the entry points
was the use of the paper blocks that students used to create and model staircases physically
themselves to find a pattern. Another entry point was when the students just started
working, at 2:40 in the video, and a group of students used a table to demonstrate the
UPDATE
Task 1
A. Identify two NCTM process standards in the attached “Executive Summary: Principles and
Standards for School Mathematics,” that you observed in the lesson from the “Teaching Math:
Staircase Problem” video. Support each standard with a specific, relevant example from the
lesson.
Connections is an NCTM Process Standard used in the video. At minute 2:05, a student
asks if the problem is “a two-step rule or a one-step rule”, and when the teacher asks for the
student to elaborate, she says, “certain ones we do, you have to have two different rules to
get the one answer? Is it just one straight rule or two different rules to get that”. This student
is using the connections standard by asking how the problem of the day will pull from
problems they have already done
Representation is an NCTM Process Standard that is used in the video. When the teacher
went over the instructions at the beginning of the video, answered questions the students
had, and handed out the materials, I noticed the students had physical representations of the
staircases. Each group had paper squares they could move around, test ideas, and strategize
how they were going to solve the problem.
B. Explain how the activity in the “Teaching Math: Staircase Problem” video is a high-level
cognitive demand task. Support your claims using a specific, relevant example from the lesson.
The staircase problem is a high-level cognitive demand task because the answer is not
immediately noticeable. In the video, when the teacher is going over the problem, he goes
over what is obvious. He says how high the staircases are and how many blocks are in each
staircase, but doesn’t tell them how to solve the problem. Instead, he has them write down
all the questions they have and gives them materials like paper, pencils, and paper blocks to
help the students come up with the strategies. He also lets them go through productive
struggle by letting the students figure out the patterns by the strategies they think of, guiding
them with what they think, and making it a point not to answer questions they have while
they are working. He is asking why it would be this, and making the students think if their
strategies are working by asking them to elaborate on why they think the strategies work (this
is seen at time stamp 3:30).
C. Explain how the activity in the “Teaching Math: Staircase Problem” video provides multiple
entry and exit points. Support your claims using a specific, relevant example from the lesson.
Entry and exit points are used in the staircase problem effectively. One of the entry points
was the use of the paper blocks that students used to create and model staircases physically
themselves to find a pattern. Another entry point was when the students just started
working, at 2:40 in the video, and a group of students used a table to demonstrate the
